Eleven Lessons
by TheMagicWorks
Summary: Eleven lessons that Ted, Barney, Robin, Lily & Marshall learned in their lives.
1. Lesson 1

_**Do I Know You? 4x01**_

_**1. It hurts to love someone and not be loved in return. But what is more painful is to love someone and never find the courage to let that person know how you feel.**_

Barney sighed and took a deep breath. He was back in the appartment as a wave of misery swept over him. He was so stupid, so so stupid. Tears were somewhere deep down ready to boil over his eyes. It was just so hard.

He'd just had dinner with Robin, and it was the most amazing thing to be able to stare right at her, talk freely with her. All night she'd been sitting there out of his reach. The only thing that stopped him from taking her in his arms was that she deserved so much better. Not some guy who treated girls like rubbish. Not some guy who worked his life around the next girl in his bed.

He could change, he could be anything she wanted. But at the same time, he had to ignore his alter ego, the fighting battle he had inside him, that wanted every other girl in the world.

He wished he'd had the strength to not sleep with April. He wished he hadn't heard himself moan Robin's name accidentally as April undressed him. He wished he could just tell her but he couldn't. He wished people trusted him. Gently, his heart throbbed. He wanted to hold her, smell her, touch her and to see her beautiful face.

Quickly, Barney checked his watch to distract his wandering mind. And then he grabbed his remote and flicked on a programme called Metro News 1.

And there she was, in all her glory, in all her beauty. She was just so perfect. She was reading the news but the words she uttered just sounded like a blur in Barney's head. She looked so breathtakingly beautiful that he couldn't help but sigh. Her hair balanced just above her shoulders, her eyes were glossy and amazing. Her small lips curved into a perfect smile, pink lipstick covering them. Her skin looked rosy and soft. Her clothes hung around her loosely. It hurt him so badly, watching her.

But he smiled. Because he was in love with her and all her beauty. He grinned up at her affectionatley and wished he could be exactly what she needed.

He switched it off before he woudl start crying and returned to the bedroom slowly.


	2. Lesson 2

_**Shelter Island 4x05 **_

_**2. A sad thing in life is when you meet someone who means a lot to you, only to find out in the end that it was never meant to be and you just have to let go. **_

He didn't need this now, he couldn't have it. Robin talking about them wasn't good. And he knew he shouldn't have just left her there but he did, he kept on walking. He stormed away from unresolved feelings and a horrible feeling in his gut.

All the fighting was driving him insane. He had fought with Stella countless times leading up to the wedding and they were so close to calling it off. Things would be so different if they had. They'd be at home, everyone, in the apartment, eating and drinking whatever they could find and watching rubbish television. And now he thought about it, he was going to miss it all so much.

Slowly, Ted walked down the corridor to find Stella. They needed to talk. About Robin, about Tony, about New York and New Jersey, about the Wedding, about Lucy, about the future. There was so little time to go, hours before they were married and it just didn't seem right. Mrs Stella Mosby. Mrs Stella Mosby.

With a click he opened the door and expected to see her standing there. But she wasn't. The pretty girl with blonde curls and shining eyes was not in the room. Ted sighed, and then he saw the card. He smiled, softy.

He reached out for it, his heart racing with confusion and emotion and fell back on the bed as his eyes read over her curly handwriting.

_**"Ted, **_

_**I don't know how to say this, there's no right way to tell you. If you find this I've run away with Tony. You're a caring, amazing man and I'm sorry that this had to happen to you. But Ted, I've been in love with Tony my whole life and seeing him again just brought it all up. Ted, you will find her, I promise you. But she's not me. **_

_**Love Stella." **_

Marshall came in and saw his friend in a pit of sorrow and anger. He took the card from Ted's hand and sat beside him. He cleared his throat after reading and placed his hand on Ted's back gently comforting him. Ted was sure he'd said something but to be honest he couldn't think straight right now.

His heart ached, his throat was dry and his ears were ringing. He wanted a drink or some sleep or to travel back to the past and see where he'd gone wrong. Lily came too, reading and sitting next to her husband and trying to tell Ted he'd be okay. Barney also tried to console Ted, striding up and down the room thoughtfully.

He was feeling a mixture of feelings right now. He never thought he'd feel relief. Relief that things could gradually go back to the start, be how they've always been. He liked his life just the way it was right now.

Seeing Stella's face in his head he tried to smile for his friends, and read the letter again, his heart sinking further into his chest.

Finally he understood that Stella wasn't worried about Robin coming to the wedding at all. She wasn't worried that he'd fall in love again, that it'd be awkward. She wasn't worried that Robin would do something stupid. In fact, deep down Stella was just thinking about her unresolved issues with Tony and she couldn't just tell him that. And that's what hurt him most.


	3. Lesson 3

_**Sweet Taste of Liberty 1x03**_

_**3. The best kind of friend is the kind you can do something stupid with, and not regret any of it the next morning or for the rest of your life.**_

Slowly Barney reached over to whisper to Ted. Reluctantly he turned back again. Ted's face was a perfect picture of boredom, shame and anger.

"Could have licked the Liberty Bell." Barney stated simply.

"We're going to the airport." Ted mumbled through gritted teeth.

"Bong, bong…" Barney said, rolling his tongue.

Ted began to speak again and Barney let a lopsided grin spread across his face. "Why do I hang out with you? Why? All I wanted was to have a regular beer, in a regular bar with my regular friends, in my regular city!"

Barney's eyes followed Ted's face slowly as he uttered meaningless words, "Ted, Ted… you're not even looking." he complained as he tried to catch his companion's gaze.

"No, I'm not." Ted continued to stare forward at the roads ahead.

"Look, our forefathers died for the pursuit of happiness, okay. Not for the sit around and wait of happiness." Ted rolled his eyes again, beginning for Barney to stay quiet. "Now if you want, you can go to the same bar, drink the same beer talk to the same people everyday, or you can lick the Liberty Bell! You can grab life by the crack and lick the crap out of it!"

"That was beautiful, man." the cabdriver added solemnly.

"Thanks, Leonard. Ted, you're missing out on a valuable life lesson!"

Before he could even finish, Ted cut him off. "Look, I don't need you to teach me how to live, okay. I know how to live. If you want to go lick the Liberty Bell just go lick it yourself." He moaned at Barney who was starting to annoying him. He could be in the bar now, drinking the same old stuff with his same old friends just like Barney had said.

He was just tired of Barney's games, mindless chatter and dragging him around to pick up girls. He felt sorry for the girls Barney had tried to pick up tonight, and sighed at him.

"No, it has to be the two of us." stated nodding his head back and forth.

Ted was astounded that he had so much energy, enthusiasm and strength. He just kept trying.

"Why? Why do you need me?" Ted went on, desperate to get out of here.

"Because you're my best friend, all right?" Barney admitted widening his eyes at a bored Ted. "You don't have to tell me I'm yours. But the way I see it, we're a team. Without you, I'm just the dynamic uno."

Ted held back a smile.

"You know what, fine. If you wanna go home… then we'll go home." Barney said limply and slowly, teasing Ted.

A long breath was let out. "Fine…we'll go lick the Liberty Bell!" Ted cried out finally.

"Good," Barney grimaced, "'cause we're here!"

And with that Barney hopped out of the taxi.

Slowly in his mind, Ted pieced everything together. He was happy he was here. Even though he had absolutely no idea how Barney redirected the cab without him knowing, he followed Barney. They licked the Liberty Bell. They licked the Liberty Bell. He knew it was a moment he'd never forget and although it tasted like pennies and not like freedom as he had hoped he learnt a valid lesson. Ted realized why he was friends with Barney, why he hung out with this crazy man. He never got where he thought he wanted to go, but he always got a great story.


	4. Lesson 4

_**The Scorpion and the Toad 2x02 **_

_**4. It's true that we don't know what we've got until we lose it, but it's also true that we don't know what we've been missing until it arrives.**_

Marshall thought he was fine, he was getting on with life. So he walked out of MacLaren's coolly. And then she was there.

His eyes widened and he almost ran away. She saw him too, she looked terrified but then she smiled. Beautiful, new, refreshed and just as she always had been. Shining with a sort of radiance and elegance.

"Lily." Lily? Who was Lily? She was nothing to him, nothing but a distant memory he had learned to block out. "What are you doing here?"

She paced toward him, the cold, night air swishing her hair behind her. "Oh, I-I was just walking by. I wasn't..." she uttered breathlessly. Marshall looked hurt. "Oh, you mean, New-York? My program ended. It was just great. Just lots of fun." Why was she lying? She let it all go and her smile became a frown. "It was awful. It was the worst mistake I ever made. I'm so sorry Marshall. And, hello." Slowly she exhaled, smiling as she watched him process thoughts and chew on her words.

He looked away, the unbearable sight of her face killing him from the inside. Quickly he flicked his head back, saying softly as he did, "Lily, this was the worst summer of my life."

"I know. It was the worst summer of my life." she uttered hopefully, as if she felt he wanted her back.

"It was the hardest thing I've ever had to go through." he stated boldly, holding his head up, still looking at her.

Air puffed into her lungs. "Can we please get back together?" she said simply, raising an eyebrow and smiling up at Marshall curiously.

"All that crap you said to me about we need to figure out who we are outside of us, and we need to learn to do things on our own." he puffed as calmly as possible. "It broke my heart. Three months ago, you broke my heart."

"Can we please get back together?" she muttered again desperately. She'd had it all planned out in her head and it wasn't happening.

"Lily, you were right. All that crap was right. So, no. No, we can't get back together." She began to softly cry and looked down in despair. "We shouldn't. At least, not right now." he mumbled.

"Wow. OK. Yeah." her eyes were brimming with tears. "Wi... Will we still see each other?"

"Yeah. Yeah. I think so. I don't know. This is all really new to me. I just got out of a long relationship."

They laughed at each other, both starting to cry now. Lily wiped her face with a hand.

"I like your hair." Marshall told her gently.

"Thanks. I, uh, figured, new city, new color - uh, old color."

And as they smiled at each other, they both knew they'd be together again. Because they loved each other, madly. Even if they didn't know it, they were in love. They didn't want to be, need to be or have to be together. Seeing each others faces, was enough to assure them, that they'd made terrible mistakes but they belonged together. They'd missed each other so much, but if they were meant to be together, they would be. and all they had to do was wait.


	5. Lesson 5

_**Pilot 1x01 **_

_**5. It takes only a minute to get a crush on someone and less than an hour to like someone. **_

There she was. The most beautiful woman Ted had ever seen. Standing there, in between two of her friends, looking slightly out of place. She just nodded solemnly and tried not to look bored.

She was sophisticated. Her soft blue eyes were intriguing. She had tanned skin and a wave of brown hair slightly tucked behind her left ear to reveal a silver hoop earring. Her pink lips parted slightly and stood out against her green jumper.

They made eye contact, and Ted wasn't sure how mad he looked with this lopsided grin on his face. She smiled back, her eyes wide, taking in Ted.

Ted imagined that it was like something from an old movie, where the sailor sees the girl across the crowded dance floor, and he turns to his buddy and says, "See that girl? I'm gonna marry her someday."

"Hey Barney, see that girl?" Ted pointed out, tapping Barney lightly. Everything about her was great. He didn't want to tell Barney he had a bit of a crush on her.

"Oh yeah, check out that rack! That is some Grade-A sweater meat." Barney grunted. He looked closer. "Wait, dude, that girl's a reporter. I've seen her on New York One. Go say hi!"

"I can't just go say hi. No, here's the plan: I'll wait till she goes to the bathroom, then strategically place myself at the jukebox so that- " Ted mumbled to himself not realizing that the girl was approaching and that Barney had tapped her shoulder.

"Haaaaaave ya met Ted?" Barney asked, in a way that frustrated Ted, before walking away.

Ted rolled his eyes. "Hi, I'm Ted." He repeated, holding out his hand.

She shook it, smiling lightly, "So I hear. "

Ted liked this girl. And liking girls wasn't a new thing for Ted. But she was special. It was something about her. The way her hair curled at the ends, and her lips arched into a sweet smile. The way she smelt of cigars and scotch, a smell only she could make nice.

The conversation flowed, the drinks were drunk and Ted found himself liking her more and more. Her name was Robin Scherbatsky, she was 29 and like Barney had said, she was a news anchor.

"Your friends don't seem too happy." he mused, looking at her group of friends. Although Barney had already checked it out, and they all looked very nice, none of them were as hot as Robin Scherbatsky.

"That's 'cuz I'm here talking to a Daniel." Robin answered simply.

"Actually it's Ted. Have ya met Ted?" Ted mused confusedly.

"No, see, the one in the middle just got dumped by this jerk, Daniel. And so tonight, every guy is a Daniel." she explained, sounding a little bored with herself.

"You know, if it'll make your friend feel better, you could throw a drink in my face. I don't mind." Ted offered. Anything to make Robin happier.

"That's an oddly sweet offer. I might just take you up on that. Anything I can do in return? "

"Have dinner with me Saturday night." Ted added quickly.

"Ooh, I can't, we're all going to Bermuda for a week. We leave Friday."

His heart sunk. He really liked this girl, and it was the only thing he could focus his mind on.

"Hey, what's taking so long?!" the dumped girl shouted out.

"Well, I know it's a long-shot, but," Ted prayed she'd say yes. He had to see her again. "-tomorrow night?"

Robin paused, considering her options. "What the hell." she grinned excitedly.

Subtly, she wrote her number down and handed it to Ted. The swiftly and flamboyantly she grabbed her glass and threw her drink right in his face.

"Jerk!" She shouted catching her friend's attention before saying quietly. "See you tomorrow."

And Barney mocked him. But he didn't care. And he had alcohol all down him. But he didn't care. And he had to wait till tomorrow. But he didn't care.

He was positive he liked this girl. He was shocked at how little time it had taken to fall for her. And all he could do was wait till tomorrow.


End file.
